Social media challenges associated paediatric burns

INTRODUCTION: The emerging social media trend of "challenges" encourages users to participate in and share videos of potentially dangerous activities. Social media challenge-related paediatric burn injuries are poorly documented in medical literature. This study aims to explore the incidence of challenge-related paediatric burns within our service. METHOD: A retrospective case note review of the incidence of paediatric burn cases in our service, in which "social media challenges" were identified as a mechanism of injury, from January 2020 to August 2025. Data collected from electronic patient records included patient demographics, details of burn injuries, and subsequent management. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were identified who sustained burns as a result of attempting an internet challenge. The mean age was 12.4 years (range: 9-15 years), with a female-to-male ratio of over 2:1. Four of the thirteen children were neurodivergent. The burn injuries included superficial (4/13), superficial partial-thickness (4/13), deep partial-thickness (3/13), and full-thickness burns (2/13). Scalds (8/13) were the most common mechanism of injury, followed by cold burns (3/13) and contact burns (2/13). All burn incidents were associated with TikTok™, rather than other social media platforms. Management involved 2/13 patients requiring full-thickness skin grafts. CONCLUSION: Social media platforms can expose children to dangerous content, further compounded by peer pressure and the desire to produce viral videos. The cohort is likely under-represented as an aetiology in paediatric burns. Early recognition of social media trends may enable preventative measures and education, utilising the same social media platforms, by the wider burns community.